A leading thinktank has produced a report which has warned that Brexit could help propel UK inequality to levels not seen since the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.

The Resolution Foundation found that cuts in welfare, squeezes on pay, and rising inflation would have most impact people less well-off. In fact, it discovered that incomes on the poorer half of households will fall by 2% between now and the 2020 general election.

Although the thinktank´s report suggests the macroeconomy has yet to be seriously affected by the Brexit vote, it noted that "the large fall in the value of Sterling following the EU referendum has triggered faster increases in inflation than had previously been expected."

The authors found that the pound´s plunge, when set against the rising value of imports and global oil prices, would result in budgets becoming increasingly squeezed.

Given these conditions, the foundation forecast the current Government could be the worst for living standards for the poorer earners since Thatcher's early years as Prime Minister.

It also warned that Theresa May needed to deliver on her vow to help the families and households who barely manage to get by, and demanded that UK living standards be central to the Government´s Brexit negotiating strategy.